Football: Northmen looking to snap four-game slide

And its enough to give the Sault Ste. Marie High School football coach concern heading into the Blue Devils' game at Petoskey 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at Curtis Field.

The short term memory comes from just a week ago, when Rambo sat in the stands and watched the Northmen lose at Cheboygan, 29-0.

"I came back and the first thing I said to our kids is 'Don't believe anything about that score,'" he said. "Petoskey ran up and down the field on them. They just turned the ball over. It wasn't that Cheboygan was stopping them."

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Now the long-term memory. The Northmen are seeking their third straight win over the Blue Devils and last season, Petoskey's Andy Strobel rolled up 242 yards in rushing and receiving and Petoskey had more than 500 yards in total offense in a 33-20 win.

"Strobel is as good as anybody we've played so far," Rambo said, adding that the Blue Devils struggled to hold Petoskey in check in 2004. "We couldn't stop it. Then they went to the spread and we couldn't stop it."

Strobel had by far his best rushing game of the season against Cheboygan as he collected 137 yards on 17 carries, bringing his season total to 290 yards on 56 attempts. He led a Northmen ground attack that finished with 198 yards against the Chiefs, but three disasterous first-half turnovers and an inability to punch the ball in the end zone and cap two long second-half drives doomed Petoskey.

"I think no doubt that was our best offensive effort as far as running the football and hopefully we'll be able to continue running the ball," Petoskey coach Kerry VanOrman said. "We also know that we have to be able to throw the football to have a chance to win."

The Northmen could manage just 4 yards passing against Cheboygan, and that was due mainly to the fact that they could not trust in their shotgun formation. Three times in the first half, quarterback Jordan Chopp found himself chasing a high center snap and twice Cheboygan recovered.

All three of Petoskey's first-half turnovers were turned into Cheboygan touchdowns, and the farthest Cheboygan had to go on any of those scoring drives was 34 yards.

"We practice too hard running out of the shotgun for that to happen," VanOrman said. "The turnovers killed us. Turnovers will kill any football team, and that's something we have to take care of this week in practice."

Petoskey has lost four straight since a 20-0 win over Marquette in the season-opener, but has shown signs from time to time that it can compete with any team on its schedule.

"I'm sure that they will not make the mistakes that they made against Cheboygan," Rambo said. "Don't think about the final score, they can play and they've proved it against Gaylord and they proved it against other teams. They've played with good, good teams."

The two common opponents for Petoskey and the Sault are Marquette and Cheboygan. The Blue Devils scored two late fourth-quarter touchdowns for a 14-10 win over Marquette, then dropped a 16-14 decision to the Chiefs.

The Sault opened with a 15-6 win over Gladstone - a team that is now 4-1 - and was awarded a forfeit victory over Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.) Bawating last week. The Blue Devils' other loss came to Rudyard, 26-20.

"One play in each game could make us 0-4 or 4-0," Rambo said, adding that the Blue Devils had chances in the final minute against both Rudyard and Cheboygan to score the go-ahead touchdown. "If one play swings in each game, that's how close all four games have been. It's been that kind of year."

The Blue Devils are big and strong up front, led by 250-pound senior Charlie Claxton and 265-pound junior Nick Moran, who has started since his freshman season. Senior Nick Pietrangelo is the lone senior starter in the backfield, while safety/running back Will Odbert is also a standout.

"We lost our top back (Kyle Ward) in the Gladstone game and we probably won't have him back for the rest of the year," Rambo said. "We're actually pretty young."

The Northmen will likely be without starting offensive guard Bob Baldwin, who was injured in warmups before the Cheboygan game. But they should get a boost with the return of senior Tyler Munson and junior John Bailey, both of whom were injured in a 40-10 loss to Traverse City Central two weeks ago.

Bailey, a 220-pounder, will start at his defensive tackle position and should help shore up the line, while Munson will almost surely be a factor on offense. Munson has seven catches for 130 yards - a team-best 18.6 yards per catch average - and is averaging just over 5 yards per carry.

"He's one of our top receivers and having him back will definitely give us more balance on the offensive side of the ball," VanOrman said. "The kids have been really good. You look at the injury we've had and (Tuesday) we had a real good practice. Their attitudes have been real good. I have no complaints there. I just wish we could get them a win."